


I Loved You When You Said You Didn't Trust Me

by tiedtogetherwithadagger



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, The Pack Doesn't Know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 10:33:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10638066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiedtogetherwithadagger/pseuds/tiedtogetherwithadagger
Summary: They didn’t mean to make it a secret. Not from everyone and not for the three months that they had been dating. At first, they had waited to announce to the pack until Stiles had the chance to tell Scott. He insisted that his best friend had to be the first to know about them and Derek would never argue against him about that. Stiles and Scott were brothers, it was a bond Derek knew well from his first pack, the instinct to care and protect.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is me fighting writer's block with some love declarations. It's not my best work (by a long shot) but I wanted to write something with Stiles and Derek already together instead of where I am in the other fics (just meeting). Hope you like it!

They didn’t mean to make it a secret. Not from everyone and not for the three months that they had been dating. At first, they had waited to announce to the pack until Stiles had the chance to tell Scott. He insisted that his best friend had to be the first to know about them and Derek would never argue against him about that. Stiles and Scott were brothers, it was a bond Derek knew well from his first pack, the instinct to care and protect.

But once Stiles actually had the chance to tell Scott, he didn’t. Derek held back the disappointment and swallowed the hurt.

“Derek, it’s not that I don’t want to tell him,” Derek heard the lie in his heartbeat. “I do! I want to tell him everything. I want to brag about you to him. I want to tell him how I finally lost my virginity, how, where, and that it was _with you_. I want to tell him how much I’ve wanted this and how long I’ve loved you, how much being with you makes me _feel_.”

There was no lie in Stiles’ heartbeat then.

“You love me?” Derek fought the hope that immediately spread its way throughout his body. Hope hurt when it was only going to inevitably be crushed. He felt vulnerable and bare, terrified of what Stiles could do to him. Because Stiles had the power to break Derek. Even after everything that Derek had gone through and survived, Stiles was the one that would land the final blow.

“Of course I do, you idiot,” breathed out Stiles. He had that look on his face. That look that was so open for him without any hesitation or worry, or maybe open despite his worry.

Stiles stretched out his hand and carefully held Derek’s cheek, as if _he_ was the breakable one, and looked back and forth between Derek’s eyes until he knew he had his full attention.

“Derek, I’ve cared about you from the very beginning. I had no idea why and it was confusing as fuck, but something was always pulling, telling me that I couldn’t let anything happen to you. That I had to keep you safe. You trusted me, a stupid stubborn 16-year-old, with a bone saw to cut off your arm.” Stiles’ voice became a little crazed and rough, “Which was nuts, by the way, don’t go around trusting random strangers like that again, okay?” Derek huffed a small laugh at that, intending to reply, before Stiles continued, “I was there for you then. I was there for you with the kanima. Hell, I was there for you even when you were shouting in my ear that you didn’t trust me while I held you up in a pool! It hurt, because I did trust you. But I think a part of me, even then, knew that you had to trust me, at least on some level, because you kept coming back for me. I trust you, Derek, and I want to earn every ounce of trust you have in me.”

Derek swallowed. His throat was constricting and his face was hot. Stiles was right there in front of him but his vision was blurred and he couldn’t hear much else beyond his own heart beating. He felt hot and cold, like he was drowning yet soaring high.

He held Stiles close until he could breath again, scenting and sniffing at his neck. Derek felt each breath tug in and out of his chest, reminding him that this was real. He didn’t know how long they stood there, how much time had passed since Stiles’ confession. He worried absently that Stiles might be starting to panic, but Derek couldn’t do much to help if he was panicking too. Once his chest stopped aching, Derek pulled back just enough to stare at Stiles’ face. It was such a beautiful face, marred only by the concern flashing across it. Concern for _Derek_.

“God, Stiles," he clutched Stiles' face with both hands, resting their foreheads together, "I love you, too. Of course I love you.” Derek’s breath caught again and he swallowed, wanting to be able to share his words the way that Stiles always did with him.

But he loved Stiles because Stiles understood him. Derek didn’t have to always find the words to say what he felt because Stiles was able to hear them, even when they hung in the air unsaid. Stiles heard Derek when he didn’t say a word.

They’ll figure this out. No matter how long it took, they cared too much about each other not to.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check me out on [tumblr](http://tiedtogetherwithadagger.tumblr.com/)!


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